Felien wants mayor’s power cut further

Remove Wood from NCTD board, he urges; also wants Presidents Day to be city holiday

“Their (Wood’s and Sanchez’s) worldview is, the private sector is there to serve the government. My worldview is, the government is there to serve the private sector,” Felien said. “The last two years, the mayor has appointed himself to everything, and I think the positions need to be shared.”

Feller, as the city’s alternate representative on SANDAG, has been filling in since Wood was removed. Felien wants to make Feller the city’s primary representative to SANDAG and himself the alternate.

Felien said he also has an idea of who should replace Wood on the NCTD board, but declined to give a name.

The deputy mayor’s slot should be rotated among the four council members who are not mayor so that each council member would serve one term as deputy mayor in either the third of fourth year of their four-year council term, Felien said.

In this instance, he said, either he or Kern should get the position.

The mayor now appoints the deputy mayor, subject to council approval. Feller was deputy mayor in 2012. Wood in January nominated Sanchez to be deputy mayor in 2013, but the council majority refused to approve the appointment.

Felien said the deputy mayor’s post is largely a status issue because the job carries no real authority, beyond filling in for the mayor at ribbon cuttings and running council meetings in the mayor’s absence.

“It’s nicer to be called deputy mayor than it is to be called council member,” Felien said. “Because of that, everyone should get a chance to wear that hat.”

Wood said having a deputy mayor who doesn’t share the mayor’s views “seems asinine at best.”

“I’m picked as mayor by an election. I should have the choice of who should be deputy mayor,” said Wood, who was elected in 2012 with 54 percent of the vote. “I certainly don’t want people who are on the other side of the political arena.”

In addition to removing Wood from the NCTD board, Felien wants to remove Brian Boyle as the city’s representative to the San Diego County Water Authority and replace him with Kern.

Felien said the Water Authority post is important and should be filled by a council member. He said Kern is the best choice because Kern has long had a keen interest in water issues.

Boyle said he has spent his career working on water issues and is employed by Water Savers LLC, a Maryland company that installs water conservation systems.

“I have been living and breathing that issue,” said Boyle, who was appointed to the water authority board in 2010. He said the council has the authority to remove him, but “I really prefer that they don’t do it.”